Stuck in the Rain
by ANeupert
Summary: Chloe and Derek have been split up from Simon and Tori. The two are slowly making their way to their meeting point, but are stuck in a fierce storm under the awning of a local vegetable store. Chloe x Derek
1. Hot for You

The rain beat down hard on the pavement as Chloe huddled under the vegetable store awning. Thankfully, all the stores were closed this late at night and they were able to find shelter. Chloe loved watching the rain, but being stuck out in it for countless hours had given her a new perspective.

Derek stood under the other end of the awning; "standing watch", he had said, "just in case". 'Just in case what?' Chloe wondered.

Tori was with Simon, headed to find his family friend, and ever since Chloe and Derek had split from them at the bus stop, they'd run across nothing but bad luck. Everywhere they went, people eyed them suspiciously. Chloe understood why – less than a year ago, she would have done the same thing. Now, however, Chloe would probably look them straight in the eyes and ask if they wanted to split the bill at the corner café.

Thinking of food made her stomach grumble loudly and she blushed, embarrassed, turning her head away from Derek in case he looked over at her. After she felt less humiliated, she looked back in his direction, only to find that the tall young man had sat down beside her silently while she was preoccupied. She jumped a bit, but regained her composure and looked quickly down to her sneakers.

"You hungry?" Derek's voice sounded cool and collected.

"…Yeah."

"Well, we can look for a twenty-four hour restaurant if you want, but it has to be a cheap place because we barely have enough money to get us where we need to go. Maybe we should take a break and look for really small part-time jobs? It couldn't hurt right?"

"They're hot on our trail, Derek. We can't just stop and get jobs – Christ, you wouldn't even let me stop to pee yesterday…" said Chloe, completely disheartened and totally dejected. Nothing was worth stopping and facing the scientists again. Granted, they had Rae, but Rae had betrayed her.

Chloe understood Rae's need to belong and feel special, but they were all running now, fighting for their lives in the cold, harsh world that existed beyond parents and Lyle House. Hopefully, they would be able to get away and plot to get Rae back; if not, Rae was in it alone…

Derek stood again, jarring Chloe back to reality. He turned to look at her and lowered one large hand in a gesture of helpfulness. Chloe thought about dismissing the hand but decided against it, leaning forward just enough to grasp Derek's hand and be hoisted quickly up. A little too quickly for her taste…

Derek had forgotten how small and light Chloe was, pulling her up with the same force he would use when he helped Simon up, and the extra force propelled her forward, toward the pavement again. Derek's arms wrapped around her waist, tightened, then released again when he knew she was steady on her feet again. He mumbled an apology and she nodded dejectedly. The odd look that flashed through her eyes at his apology confused him greatly. He couldn't imagine why Chloe would be upset that he had let her go… usually people preferred that he not touch them at all…

The two headed down the sidewalk, trying to stay as well-hidden in the shadows as they could, but found it unbeneficial, since the rain had already forced everyone inside. After trying for a while, they gave up, deciding that they really didn't care all that much whether someone saw them walking in the rain after midnight.

A loud boom and a flash of pure white light lit the sky and although the same thing had been going on for hours, being out in the weather worried Chloe far more than being under the awning had. She bit her tongue to keep from letting out a surprised shriek and instead reached out to Derek.

A warmth seemed to wrap around Derek's hand that he couldn't recognize; something that calmed him immensely and abated all of his fears. Upon inspection, Derek found that the enjoyable warmth was Chloe's own hand, tied loosely to his own by a jumble of fingers.

One side of his mouth twisted upwards in a tiny, hidden smile while he pretended not to notice, and Chloe continued that same way as well. Unable to stay silent any longer, Chloe said "You're really warm," just loud enough for Derek to hear.

"Comes with the territory."

"Oh… Uhm… Has it always been like that?"

"No. Not until recently. About the same time..." Derek trailed off, realizing that he had almost told her that the heat only started after she came to Lyle House.

"About the same time as what?"

Chloe tugged on his arm and forced him to stop, face her, and look her straight in the eyes.

"About the same time as what?" she asked again.

Derek shuffled his feet and glanced down to the cement sidewalk, eager to look anywhere but at Chloe. "I don't know," he mumbled, "I was just rambling."

"You can't ramble about when something started, Derek." Chloe's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed, glaring suspiciously.

Derek sighed and looked her in the eye. "About the same time I met you," he declared, leaning against the wall behind him and staring at her for longer than ever before. She met his eyes confidently, grabbing his free hand with her own and holding both his hands out between them.

"You're sure that's when it started? You're sure it's normal? You promised to tell me if anything weird happened, remember?"

"That's not what I promised, and I hadn't promised that back then anyways," he retorted, still holding her hands and staring down at her.

Chloe leaned in and pressed her face into the front of his sweatshirt, feeling like letting go of all her emotions, only to propel herself backwards again, dragging Derek along to the diner across the street.

Over pancakes and French toast, the two left one hand laced together, and after the meal, headed out again on their way.

THE END!!!

Haha. I just wrote a fanfiction for something other than a manga! I'm so incredibly proud of myself! :D

Tell me if you want this to become a two-shot or not, because I just planned a one-shot, but I'm open to a two-shot. I really wanted to put a kiss in but didn't feel like the timing was right…?

Anyways, thanks so much for reading and please please please review and tell me what you think! I just started writing again, so all feedback is appreciated… 


	2. Don't tell Simon

No one had ever held Chloe's hand before. Sure, the boys at school had held it, but no one had ever really _held_ her hand; with feeling and warmth and happiness included in just the subtle act, Chloe fell instantly in love with the sensation.

Derek may have been tremendously warm, but his eyes always looked so extraordinarily cold. Chloe often thought that it looked as if he was denying himself happiness because she had seen him happy… She knew the way his eyes could light up with amusement or a smile.

"Why don't you smile very often?" Chloe inquired.

"Monsters don't deserve to smile."

"Well, do good people deserve to smile?"

Derek only shrugged his shoulders. Chloe smiled, satisfied, and said "Then you ought to smile, Derek, because I know you well enough to know you're not a monster, you're just really strong. You wouldn't hurt someone for no reason."

"What makes you think that I wouldn't? I bet I could easily slaughter someone who hadn't hurt me without realizing how awful it was until afterwards..."

"You wouldn't hurt me, Derek," Chloe whispered.

Derek sighed and dropped her hand, walking a little bit faster so he wouldn't be able to see her through the corner of his eye. He detested when she looked disappointed like that.

No one had ever looked as saddened as Chloe when he had called himself a monster, so why now? Why her? Why did the girl he loved have to look caringly at him when he was down and out to begin with?

Chloe ran past him and skidded to a halt in front of him, just barely managing not to slip on the wet pavement. She threw out her arms and glared at him as angrily as she could manage, her eyes piercing and bright against the smooth, creamy porcelain of her skin.

"If you're a monster, then I'm a monster too. I put the unfortunate souls of innocent people back into their decaying corpses, and then didn't know how to send them back. I'm a monster, too, so shut up with your self-pity and _talk to me, Derek!"_

"What the hell do you want me to say?! I haven't lived the ideal life, Chloe, so I don't smile much. Happy now?" Derek huffed crossly and started to sweep past her arms at the same time that Chloe decided to clamp her arms tightly around Derek's waist. She mumbled something into his chest, buried her head even further into his shirt as her body trembled, and she very obviously began to cry.

Derek sighed, exasperated. "What did you just say, Chloe?"

Another incoherent sentence and a few more trembles as the front of his shirt began to dampen again. Finally, after hours in the rain, the awning had given it a long enough break to dry out, and here she was making it all wet again… 'Girls are such a pain,' Derek thought sarcastically.

"Still can't hear you, Chloe."

Chloe's head shot up and she choked out a few words through her tears, eventually conveying the message, "I love your smile, so I want you to smile more…"

"Well, I love your smile too, so stop crying, okay?"

"You're lying to get me to shut up," sniffed Chloe, her once clear eyes now red and brimming with unshed tears while she wiped away the dampness on her cheeks.

"Chloe, listen, okay? I love you too, so just calm down."

Chloe's head shot up and her eyes opened wide as she stared at Derek seriously.

"You really do? You really mean that? You promise you're telling the truth? Do you really, Derek?!" Chloe's voice took on a curious, frantic, and overall excited tone.

"Yes, Chloe, I really do, I really mean it, and I promise I'm telling the truth." Derek said, exasperated.

"I love you too, Derek," Chloe whispered through a delicate smile.

"What?! When did I ever say I loved you?!"

Chloe's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement, "Just now, Derek… You swore you were telling the truth…"

Derek backed away, reflecting for a moment, then swore under his breath. At last, he turned back to Chloe. "Don't tell Simon," he begged, "It'll destroy him if he knew I told you after I promised him I wouldn't. He would never trust me again, Chloe. I shouldn't have – shit…"

"I thought I loved you as a friend but then you said you loved me, Derek, and I was suddenly the happiest person in the world… Don't tell me you don't love me like that…" Chloe's eyes began to fill with tears again.

Derek wrapped her up in his arms for one small hug before pushing her away again.

"Chloe, you're better off with Simon. Go to Simon, tell him you like him, and you two can be happy together. He loves you, Chloe… give him a chance…"

"I won't date someone I don't love, Derek. I love you."

Chloe propelled herself up onto her tiptoes before planting a hard kiss on Derek's pale lips. He couldn't help but kiss back and when the two separated a short time later for air, Derek couldn't help from leaning in for a second short and sweet kiss.

For a few moments, Chloe and Derek merely looked at each other, occasionally glancing down to one another's lips in a fluttering glance of desire, but as Derek stared into Chloe's beautiful eyes, he realized that love shouldn't be denied; no matter what.

Finally, Derek put one hand softly against the small of her back, smiled at her, and said only "forget Simon" before pulling Chloe up to meet him in another kiss, more passionate than the previous had been. While the two kissed softly, rain beating down hard around them and soaking them thoroughly, they could only grin into the kiss and laugh together before Derek lifted Chloe up and deftly swung her around in the air before setting her back down for one more round of sweet kisses.

When they broke apart one more time, Chloe looked Derek in the eye seriously and said to him, "Derek, thank you."

"What for?" he asked before he kissed her once more lightly on her swollen lips.

"For smiling, of course…"

* * *

Hey, everyone, I'm back with the second part of this story. Since I just didn't like the un-fluffy ending of chapter one in the least, I decided I would simply HAVE to add this second chapter. Hopefully you guys really like it, because I somehow managed to slice open my finger on the edge of a key on my keyboard and got blood all over the place before I noticed it. It's now very difficult to type because it hurts to use my pinky... I love my pinky finger :(

Anyways, guys, REVIEW PLEASE to make me super duper happy!!!


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